Incubator.



:sT-Atras PATENT omnes.

THOMASN. THOISOLL'OF BORANTON,'PENNSYLVNIA, ASSIGNOR T0 INTERNATIONAL POULTRY SALES COMPANY, 0F BEOEN'` MIIIIILB,` NEW JERSEY, A CORPORATION OF NEW wasnt.

. rNoUaaroB.

Patented Oct. 1, 1912.

Application filed April SCO,l 1910. Serial No. 558,641.

To all whom .it may concern:-

Be it known thatI, THoMAs N. THOM- soi.v a citizen of theUnited States, residinlg in cranton Lackawanna county, Penns Vania, have invented certain new and use u1 Improvements in Incubators, of which the lfollowing is a specification.

For successful incubation it is essential t0 maintain a very closefand accurate regulation of tem erature and a very nearly constant hum ity. The temperature should be maintained very close to 103. F. and the humiditybetween sixty and sixty-tive per cent.

The ob'ect of the present invention is to provide or the' proper humidifying of the air in the incubator so asto maintain it automatically at the pro er humidity. l

The heater used is o the air-heatingt e, the airfbein .jheatedl by owin 'ai'oun a flue or cham er'throu h whichlt e roducts of combustion fromt e lampfor ot er heating devicecirculate. The te'mperaturewithintheincubator is regulatedh fshortcirf cniting1 the heated gases fromV slamp so that t eyy escape directly into Vthe atmosphere and cease to heat ythe intervening wall, to thereby diminish the heat imparted .to the circulating air, instead of a lowing this heatedair to escape. 'y y' i For maintaining constant humidication this invention provides for assin'g warm or heated air at a suliciently ower temperature than that required in the incubator into contact with water or moisture in such manner that it becomes saturated therewith and then passing this air lso patu'ra'tethrough the -heater to raise its temperature snfleientlyi, to maintain the teiii'peiature`- i the incubating chamber at,th'ere uiiedde' rceapproximatel 1052112), w erehy4 its lumi ity iereducelA from,saturation to the reguirel j percentage lof I humidityf.,y To at. tam `this v4required percenta thetemperatureof tlie air at thev time it igubroughtnto. contact with niei'stuieisgso tentrolledae.-to enable'it to t'ake iipthe'reiiiredquantity. of moisture to bringe theghuiiiidity'Lmthjqir when finally ,-hea djtotlie,l @cent1 agedesired, g., fj. .yjl'heficcompanying drawings show g ffllbterfembedymsatheyre cried?! "fliating element 1C, isy

trays and details which form no novel part of the present invention.

Figure 1 is a vertical section which coincides with the vertical axis of the heater. Fig. 2 is a plan mainly in horizontal section on planes of the line 2-2 of Fig. 1. Fig. 23 is a fragmentary perspective showing a detail. Fig. 4 is a fra mentary section on the line 8--8 of Fig. 2 s owing a modified construction.

To economize space on the drawing, the incubator 'is shown in Fig. 2 somewhat narrower than the usual roportions.

',Referi'ingto the rawings, let A designate the incubatin chamber which in operation, will contain the usual c g trays, and letl B designate asl a Whole tie heater lwhicb is shown as of the exterior type, C

lll man of `this heater, and D being any usual orsuitable form of thermostat within thefcha'mber A andwhicli serves to communicat'elinotion through the usual eontro1 lin' lever E. for; operating the damper or va ve Fwhich controls the tem erature iinparted byUt-lieheater to the incu ator.

In the'4 particular construction shown a T-shaped air passage G is provided beneath thetincubatii'igJchamber through which exterior airjis admitted to the lower part of theheater. The air enters at one or more inlets' a lwhich 'are shown as at the ends of the branches ofthe' T. The discharge end of the air pi e G opens into the bottom of the .annular d) ue H `which is formed between lan,mner metal tube b and an onteitube e,

the `latter being covered with insulating matriiilJ tolcnne the heat. From the top of this annular flueyH leads a hot-air delivery pipe yI which enters the upper part of the incubatngchambcr, and may extend throughfthelatter or'thr'ough any suitable part t i'ereof, being provided Iwith numerous perforations e a through which to distribute the heatedairinto the incubating chamber.

|.'l.`he1inner tube bwat its bottom portion 'servesas' the chimney. ofthe lamp or other the burner of which ,suitable ory convenient way l this tube. Somewhat above 1u i'ed in auf)1 to'thejbottom o tliewilgiiiefandfata'point where lamp chim- ,l y neysaarecommonly contracted, the tube Z) egg..."

an inside'ftube or chimney Z the lamp- (or equivalent heatingeleforming rwithin it =the flueffor-'products of' combustion, which tube `is open at its top. and which extends to less height than the tube b-,iand `is separated suiiiciently from .the latter to form between-them an .annular ue g. Near the bot-tom of this latter ilue are horizontal outlet tlues h h, one of which is shown in section in Fig. 1 and another in dotted lines. In .practice it is suicient to employ two of these fiues h arranged -on opposite sides. The disk cr damper F is mounted above the open to of the tube b so that as it is raised or lowered lbythe thermostat it permits more or less ofthe hot ses to escape directly to the atmosphere, tie remaining gases lowin down the annular flue g to the outlets a The bod or reservoir j of the lamp C is supporte entirely beneath the burner, and where it is exposed on all sides to the atmosphere and to the currents of cool air entering the burner so that the oil reservoir is kept cold. In order that the operator may examine the flame, a window [c is provided through the outer tube c and insulated wraping ,and coinciding therewith' 1s a winow kf throughthe inner tubepor clum'ne'y base b, theseywindows being closed by mica or 'other' transparent material. y

In operation'air'enters at the* inlets a and flowing through the tube GjisI admitted tothe lower part of the 'annular ilue'Hso that in rising through this 'iiuefitis'xheated by contact withthe hot tubeb'andI the air thus heated tlows from the heaterthrou hthe delivery tube I, whence it is -distribute into the chamber A.' The hotair and. ses from the lamp lflame are confinedv within' the tube b which vprevents any possible comminglirg of the products of com ustionw'ith the e y i air entering the incubatingZcharrilgyelzlI -The hot gases from the lamp-ascendthrouglrthe fiuef and ordinaril esca epartly throulghits upper and under t e up ifted damper and partly descend through the flue 4gand escape at 'h h. The greater part'of t e heat imparted to the air in the llueH 'is taken from the descending current of hot gases inthe flue g by conduction throught-the tube-b.- The flow and temperature'of.-th"` ases-in this flue g is determinedb'yl the position of the damper F. If thisdm er were lowered so as to close the to ,ofthe-'flue ball'the hot gases would circulal e down throu hthe flue gend the .maximum uantitypf eat would e transmitted Ithroug the `cont'luctiiig.tube orwall b totheyascendingair. "If on the contrary the .dam er' '111, A,were ,lifted tof its' highesty osition 'fa u, the-. fpro'luctsj 11.1, tom h1 bastion rom the j chimn'e yfilas-f woyltlffesf" cape Nu wardly `beneath .t d'dttmdpergfand( an upw'ar l crrent of co l airwoul` (be ip, n openings h and'escapip"atjlieijirppeilrg 1lli'c'f of... p aaa cool air v tlius ,admitted would serve to cool the metalwall b and diminish or suspend the heating of the air in the flue Il. In vtheintermediate ,positions of the damper the upward escape of the hot iroducts will be more 0r less restrictedv so that a greater' or less uantity of the hot vases will be caused to circu ate through the ilue g with the result that the conducting wall Z) will be heat- ,ed to varying degrees. The thermostat D,

expanding or contracting in obedience to 4sli ht changes of temperature within the incu ating chamber, imparts in the usual manner through the lever E rising or falling movements to the damper to such effect that when the temperature becomes slightly too high th'e damper is lifted and more of the heatis permitted to escape or be short-circuited so as to diminish the heating of the ascending air column; and conversely, if the temperature in the chamber falls below the normal the damper F will be lowered so as to cut ofi' the direct escape of hot gases and force a greater proportion thereof to circulate downwardly so as to more highly heat the partition or wall b and consequently impart greater heat to the air entering the incubator.

' Under normal conditions the thermostat willmaintain the damper Fl suspended in approximately the position shown in Fig. 1 so that la partial outlet is rovided at the tgp for the heated gases while yet a portion o these gases is com elled to flow downwardly through the ue g, this downward current:v bein varied in volume from time .toltime by a s i ht lifting or lowering of the damper as the t ermostat responds to slight, fluctuations of temperature in the incubating chamber, and' to such leilect that these fluctuations are quickly and automatically comggnsated for, so that the incubating chamr'is'maintained at a temperature more nearl Eossi le byany of the reviously known ea'tfregulatln devices. n the event that, the lamp shou d enerate an excessive quantity.of.h'eat, as y being `adjusted to too lar e aame, the sensitive thermostat will quickly-"lift the damper F so high as to n'ortl an a'ieaifofK escape opening beneath it exceeding the"areaof the chimney flue f B0 that., all ofthe heated ases will escape at thetop and,` thetubc will bo cooled jby the upflow of [outer` air through the annulrue gfthus diminishing lthe eiliciency 'of thefhea'terfand lpreventing t-he possibility .otfoyfheiatlitig.thejttiri admitted te the iaj," na Ii1i1cl1"Un`fithereI is no communication fbtweell.t'hoallfjflll'e'II and the fines f g for gases 0.1' Qombjustion,l there is no )ossiblity he-Lfreshfjair, which is heute and ad- .'Jto-theuncubator being vitiated by vconstant than has heretofore been inlet ends a and a similar partition n at its lower half'o-f the tube outlet end nea-r the heater, these partitions being half-disks, as best shown in Fig. 3, soldered into the round tube so that the forms a water vessel or tray and the upper half serves as an air passage or flue. The tray thus formed is lettered K. For heating this tray, to warm the water and also the current of air to the required temperature, some of the waste or surplus heat from the incubating chamber is utilized. For this purposepreferably holes are formed'through the bottom or oor p of the incubating chamber, one hole being shown insection at Q Fig. 1, lthrough which holes the spent warm air from this chamber descends into Contact with the tube G.

lPreferably a 'housing L is placed around thls tube to partiall Y contne'the descending warm air and to cause it to circulate around and beneath the tube, the air finally escaping through out-lets r r beneath. A modifiedl construction is shown in Fig. et where the tray `K is a fiat vessel or elongated basin suitably supported within an air tube G of corresponding shape which is in turn inclosed within the housing -L so as to admit of a circulation of warm air around it from the incubating chamber.

As already stated, it'is' essential to maintain in the mcubating chambera humidity of from sixty to sixt five per cent. To accomplish this the fresh air before entering the heater is warmed to approximately 85 In flowing over the water bath which is warmed to a similar temperature, the air becomes saturated with moisture. Air at this temperature at saturation contains 12.736 grains of water per cubic foot. After this saturated air has been heated by the hea-ter to yenough above 103 F. to maintain the temperature within the incubating chamber at approximately 103 F.,- 'the stated quantity of moisture gives a humidity in the incubating chamber of about per cent. For determining the precise humidiiication" it is accordingly only necessary to control Within reasonably close limits the temperature imv parted by the waste heat from the bottom of and to the water bath.

the incubating chamber to the entering air This results naturally from the fact that the spent air leaving t-he incubating chamber .has a constant temperature closely approximating 95 F., which results in heating the entering air to a. close approximation to 85F.

An advantage of the illustrated*arrange-V compensated for water as the In prior incubators heater, near the lamp reservoir, so that it is liable to be vitiated by oil vapors and odors emanating from the lamp. This liability is avoided by the present invention.

An important advantage of the present invention is that it insures the constant and uninterrupted ventilation of the incubating chamber. AIn prior incubators the temperalture control has commonly been eifected by ischarging more or less of. the current of heated air into the atmosphere, instead of directing it into the incubating chamber, so that the proportion of the total column of air that would enter the incubating chamber was subject to frequent variation, and under conditions frequently resulting, so much of the heated air was thus discharged into the atlnos here as to practically suspend the intro uction of fresh air into the incubating chamber, so that stagnation ofl air therein resulted. The present invention' Wholly avoids this undesirable operation, is all directed into the incubating chamber, the function of the regulator being confined to discharging into the atmosphere surplus heat from the lamp. It results that there is maintained in the in` cubating chamber a constant supplv of fresh air which is introduced at uniform temperature. My invention t-hus results in a con- 'stant and uniform heating of the column of air ascending through the heater, and the delivery of all air thus heated into the incubating chamber@ Or otherwise stated, my invention insures the transmission through the metal wall b by which the column of air is heated of a constant number of heat units by a corresponding variat1on in temperature of other parts thereof,l so that the average'temperature of the entire Wall remains practically constant.

- This invention is not necessarily limited to the precise details of construction or arrangement shown, but is susceptible of a considerable variation such` as would be apparent tothose skilled in this art. For example, my invention is not necessarily confined to the use ofa water bath or means for humidifying-the air, as anysource of moisture in contact with the lair will answer this pur ose. Nor is my invention necessarily con ned to drawing all the -air to be humi ifed and heated from out side the incubating chamber, although this is referable.

Vhat I claim is 1. An incubator comprising an incubating chamber, a heater and a humidifier,

of the purest possible tray ofl with airy chambeig a heater and a humidifier,

`conduct air first through ,then through the heater,

passages relatively arranged to conduct heat from the incubating chamber to the humidifier and to conduct air first through the humidifier and then through the heater, and thence into the incubating chamber.

2. An incubator coinprisin an incubating v with air passages relatively arranged to conduct the warm air leaving the incubating chamber into heat-conductive relation with the humidifier, whereby the residual heat thereof is utilized to heat the humidifier and to the humidifier and and thence into the incubating chamber.

3. An incubator comprising an incubating chamber, a heater and a humidifier, with air passages relatively arranged to conduct the leaving the incubating chamber into heat-conductive relation with the humidifier, whereby the residual heat thereof is utilized to heat thehumidi'fier, `and to conduct the moist air from the humidifier to the heater and thence into the incubating chanibeise 4. An inbubator comprising a heater having an air-heating passage, a humidifying conduit containing moisture through which conduit the air flows to said heating passage, the incubating chamber having a passa e for vdischarging spent air therefrom, said latter passage andthe humidifying conduit and incubating chamber being arranged in juxtaposition whereb to warm the air in said conduit by heat rom the incubating chamber, whereby the air is uniformi y warmed and saturated with a determined amount of moisture and then heated and discharged into the incubating chamber.

5. An incubator com rising an air conduit, means for uniformi; warming said conduit by heat from the incubat' a source of moisture in contact with-the circulating air, a heater receiving the moistened air from said conduit, and a conduit conductin the moistened air from said heateran discharging it .into the incubating chamber. K

6. 3.1i incubator comprising a heater, an air conduit, means for warming the air in said conduit byv chamber, V

heat vfrom the incubating s chamber, a water bath arranged to be traversed by the warmed air, the heater receiving the moistened air from said conduit, and an air conduit conducting the air from said heater' into the incubating chamber. c

7. An incubator comprising a heater having an air-heating passage discharging into the incubating chamber, an air conduit lead-v ing to said passage, a source of moisture in said conduit, and means for warming said conduit by the waste heat of the aii' passing out from the incubating cham r.

8. An incubator comprising a heater having an air-heating passage discharging into the incubatin chamber, a humidifyin conduit leading rom an air inlet to sai passage, and a source of moisture in said conduit, the incubatin chamber having an outlet for spent heate air from its lower part into conducting proximity to said conduit to warm the entering air therein.

9. An incubator comprising a heater having an air-heating passage discharging into the incubating chamber, a conduit leading from a fresh air inlet to said passage, a source of moisture in said conduit, and a housing surrounding said conduit, said chamber having an outlet for spent .hea

entering air in 10. In an incubator comprising an incubating chamber and a heat/er` means for uniformly warming entering air by vheat from said incubating 'chamber to approximateiy 85 degrees F., and circulating thisair in Acontact with fied to saturation, said heater adapted to then heat -this air suiciently to maintain the incubating chamber' at approximately 103 degrees F. and to discharge the air Vthus heated andliumidified into the incubating chamber, whereby the humidity of the air in such chamber is maintained at approximately 60 the conduit.

per cent. of saturation. .y

In witness whereof, I have hereunto si .ed my the presence of two subscri mg name in THOMAS N. THOMSON. Witn:

witn.

WILLIAM F. MARTINE, lFaim Wiarrii.y

moisture whereby it is humidi- 

